


On St. Mungo's Hospital

by bramblePatch



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Archived From Tumblr, Archived from Bramblepatch Blog, Gen, Meta Essays, Nonfiction, Religion, Wizarding Culture (Harry Potter), Wizarding History (Harry Potter), Wizarding Traditions (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 18:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16838026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bramblePatch/pseuds/bramblePatch
Summary: Someone on Tumblr was questioning the worldbuilding behind a wizarding hospital named after a presumably Catholic saint. I took a stab at the current and historical religious culture of Wizarding Britain.Originally posted on my Tumblr April 2015.





	On St. Mungo's Hospital

It’s most likely that British Wizarding society mirrors British Muggle society in that it is now mostly secular but retains strongly Christian cultural markers. Even in the modern era there’s a good deal more cultural overlap and exchange than pureblood separatists would like to admit, via the steady stream of muggle-born and half-blood magical children and also the fact that _almost all_ wizards and witches live in or near muggle settlements. Note also that although we never hear about religious services being compulsory or even available in wizarding communities, Hogwarts does observe “Christmas” and “Easter” holidays, and Harry’s parents were buried in the churchyard in Godric’s Hollow and not in a secular and/or specifically wizarding burial ground. Even if wizards are not as a whole religious, they’re comfortable with the trappings of traditional Christianity.

Before the period of increasing anti-magical sentiment among muggles that ultimately lead to International Statute of Secrecy in 1692, the two populations were almost certainly better integrated. Prior to that time, most wizards and witches in the British Isles probably attended the same religious observances as their muggle neighbors, which depending on time period, geographical location, and local politics, could have been either Catholic or Protestant. (Or otherwise, in much smaller numbers.) There were also certainly at least a few magical folks among the clergy; the Hufflepuff house ghost is the Fat Friar, after all, and only wizards and witches can become ghosts. And, well, there’s no reason why Jesus of Nazareth _wouldn’t_ be venerated by wizards as well as muggles. A lot of the lesser miracles could be replicated by any competent witch or wizard, but true resurrection of the dead is explicitly impossible for potterverse magic, and I doubt there’s a lot of virgin births going on, either.

It’s also not strictly true that the veneration of saints is unique to Catholicism. Most other branches of Christianity observe sainthood to some degree, although many do not have as specific of requirements or as comprehensive of hagiographic traditions. But in this particular case: Saint Mungo is a real saint! He’s the founder and patron saint of Glasgow, and lived in the late 6th century. Some accounts put him in contact or conflict with a madman and prophet named Lailoken, who is sometimes identified with the Welsh figure Myrddin Wyllt, who _in turn_ is pretty reliably identified with Merlin of the Arthurian legends. And we know that in the potterverse, Merlin is a very important cultural figure to British Wizarding society. The association may suggest that in the potterverse, Saint Mungo was also a wizard, or that he was believed to be one by later wizards and witches.

According to the “Famous Wizards” cards (as featured with chocolate frogs and in the EA videogames, see the [HP Lexicon’s explanation here](https://www.hp-lexicon.org/source/other-canon/fw/)), St. Mungo’s Hospital was founded by a wizard named Mungo Bonham, probably in the late 1500s or early 1600s (as Bonham lived 1560-1659). Bonham himself was probably named for Saint Mungo as well. This places the founding of the hospital a few decades to a century before the International Statute of Secrecy came into effect; it may represent a major shift from magical healers being integrated into the muggle medical community to the safer but more restricted practice of only serving magical patients. This would roughly coincide with muggle medicine becoming more scientifically based and better regulated, making it more difficult for magical healers to conceal their methods. Also note that the “abandoned department store” cover described in the books certainly does not date to the seventeenth century; at the very least, the hospital has gained a new facade at some point, and I wouldn’t bet against it having relocated entirely, as wizarding society became more centralized to London after the ISS went into effect and the Ministry of Magic was established.

It’s hard to say what connection there may or may not be between wizarding society and the Roman Catholic Church without knowing more about the international wizarding politics of the potterverse; it’s certainly possible that there are still wizards placed very highly in the church. It’s also possible that Catholicism is now a wholly muggle institution, and Wizarding Britain’s connection and claim to Saint Mungo is primarily cultural and historical/legendary rather than religious. 

**Author's Note:**

> (Further reading, if you’re interested: I really recommend Red Hen’s essays on [The History of Magic](http://redhen-publications.com/historyofmagic.html) and Wizards & Muggles Parts [One](http://redhen-publications.com/wizards-muggles1.html) and [Two](http://redhen-publications.com/wizards-muggles2.html) from her “Foundation” essays collection, and [Wizards & Religion](http://redhen-publications.com/wizreligion.html) from her “Oh, Wide, Wide (Wizarding) World” collection. Well, and the rest of her potterverse meta, but those are the ones most relevant to this discussion.)


End file.
